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Thread: why a 3rd class medical?

  1. #1

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    Default why a 3rd class medical?

    Why do we need a medical cert? Do they prevent heart attacks, or seizures, or any other anomaly that would lead to pilot in command incapacitation? People ask me why I would even consider flying one of those "little" air planes or one of those "dangerous homemade death traps, they are always crashing". My answer is "how can you get in a vehicle that could possibly be recalled tomorrow for a faulty brake system or a throttle system that could stick wfo, or drive down the freeway at 70 plus miles an hour three feet away from some one that you have never met that could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol?

    Many studies have proven that air travel is the safest form of travel. Airplanes have to be inspected at certain intervals to be legal to fly (but we all know that doesn't always happen). How often does a car ever have to be inspected for roadworthiness? Even if a "small" plane does go down, the number of casualties is minimal (but still too many)

    So why don't we have to have a medical certificate to drive the number one cause of deaths in the United States?

  2. #2
    Senior Member efwd's Avatar
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    Probably because if you experience anything short of passing out, you just pull over.
    Eddie Forward
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Wheels's Avatar
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    What is your question? Did something change while I was asleep at the wheel ... again. Or, was the third class medical requirement reinstated?

  4. #4
    Senior Member Delta Whisky's Avatar
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    896TR - interesting question and I wouldn't propose that I know the full and complete answer. However, I was at a safety lecture some time back and the speaker said something that I'll never forget and changed my whole outlook and approach to flying. That was - aviation travel IS the safest way BUT only if you are talking about COMMERCIAL aviation. GA is not nearly as safe - from a statistical point of view. To bring this home, he asked us "How many friends can you name that died in a car crash?" Of course, the next question was obvious: "How many friends have you lost in a plane crash?" Sadly, I can name a lot larger number in the latter case - and this is only my 51st year of documented PIC - I hope there are many more. As to the third class medical - years ago the rate of accidents caused by a medical condition in the GA world was compared to the medical induced rate in the self certifying world - back then it was gliders and balloons - and the answer was statistically the same. (0.02 difference if my memory serves.) Maybe it was similar rates that contributed to our new found ability to fly LSAs. Just thinking and writing cus there ain't nothing good on the ol tele.

  5. #5
    Senior Member efwd's Avatar
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    Hi Wheels. If I am not mistaken, 3rd class medicals have not disappeared. They remain a required element of the student pilot license. They also remain a requirement for me to jump through since I have not had one in the previous 10 years or something like that. Anyhow, I had to go get one last year so that I can participate in the Basic Med program. I have an LSA so I could have skipped it but I would like to travel from the Phoenix area, say on a Sunday eve, to get home to Southern Cal.
    Eddie Forward
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    All the stats I see put GA aircraft at the same risk level as motorcycles. With that said all the reading I do on crashes it seems that if you don’t starve your plane of fuel, attempt the impossible turn and stall it when the engine quits on takeoff your eliminated all lot of the stats.

    As far as the medical it seems a lot of people lie on them anyway or avoid seeking medical treatment from fear of loosing them. As mentioned above you just don’t coast to the side of the road when something happens so probably good that there is some basic risk assessment.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    I guess my point is with medicals becoming less restrictive and some not even requiring an exam why have one at all? Ultra light's don't need one, para sail's don't, powered 'chutes don't. If medicals are required for some why not require anything that can lift someone into the air also have the same rules? When I turned 40 I had to renew every 2 years and at the next renewal I found out I have type 2 diabetes. When I told Oklahoma it was controlled with diet and exercise everything was fine but the next doctor that renewed my med. cert. said I was using Metformin and hoops had to be jumped through. I guess I am also saying that even though med certs are easier to get I will be a rebel and not get another one. And I need to go sleep, I tend to ramble when I'm tired. Sorry for wasting bandwidth but I feel it's something to think about.

    Steve

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    Senior Member aviator79's Avatar
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    I am not totally against medical certification, and I'd much rather have an incapacitated pilot crash his paraglider pilot into my house than Cessna 421. But a bureaucrat in DC trying to make a determination on whether your type 2 diabetes is properly managed seems ridiculous to me. I like BasicMed in principle. You let people and their doctors decide if they are fit to fly. But, as Eddie mentioned, you still have to get a 3rd class medical at least once. If this requirement went away, BasicMed would be more meaningful. What does that 3rd class really mean 20 years later?
    --Brian
    Flying - S7SS

  9. #9
    Hockeystud87's Avatar
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    Just to correct one thing. Airline travel is one of the safest ways to travel and or be period. You're safer flying airlines than you are in your own home.

    General Aviation is definitely not safer than driving. There has been many statistics that cover different stats (Miles flown/driver or hours flown/driven) both show results of planes being less safe than cars.

    http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/safety - interesting article on the topic.

  10. #10
    Senior Member av8rps's Avatar
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    Default Re: why a 3rd class medical?

    But we all drive our cars a lot more hours every year than we do our airplanes...so the real risk is still most likely driving our car.

    I remember hearing that an aircraft is 12 times more dangerous than an automobile. So if you fly 1/12th as much as you drive, the risk is the same.

    That's what I tell my friends when they talk about how dangerous planes are...

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